Microsoft Wanted to Create a ‘Mobile-Native’ Version of Game Pass

The ongoing Microsoft v. FTC hearing has just dropped another very interesting nugget. We previously learned from confidential documents that Microsoft considered purchasing Sega and other high-profile studios such as Bungie and IO Interactive, and another document revealed today that Microsoft also considered purchasing Square Enix to create a “mobile-native” version of Game Pass (via TrueAchievements).

The heavily redacted document from November 2019 emphasized how Square Enix’s expertise in developing mobile games could help Microsoft to create mobile expansions of its existing franchises and extend its presence in Asia due to the popularity of Square Enix games in that region. However, the key segment of the document is probably the part about Microsoft describing its plan to leverage Square Enix’s mobile games to create a “mobile-native” version of Game Pass.

“Combining Square Enix’s robust mobile-native portfolio with our own could potentially help us create a mobile-native Xbox Game Pass SKU. Square Enix’s deep mobile catalog includes several premium titles (similar to console, with up-front pay gates) that would have substantial value for a subscription service. Additionally, we believe that an expanded catalog of mobile-native Xbox Game Pass titles could lower the cost of aggregating mobile-native content from other publishers,” the document says.

What Microsoft is describing here with its “mobile-native” Game Pass offering is a subscription service that would only provide access to native mobile games on iOS and Android. This would be quite similar to how Apple Arcade and Google Play Pass work on iOS and Android, respectively, though the latter also includes access to select mobile apps in addition to Android games.

If Microsoft eventually didn’t pursue this strategy, it’s doubtful that Apple would ever allow Microsoft to offer a game subscription service on iOS, considering that it would compete with its own Apple Arcade subscription. However, Microsoft still aims to launch an Xbox mobile games store on iOS and Android as soon as next year. In March 2024, the EU’s Digital Markets Act will indeed force Apple to open up iOS and allow third-party app stores, which are already allowed on Android.

“We want to be in a position to offer Xbox and content from both us and our third-party partners across any screen where somebody would want to play,” Xbox head Phil Spencer said in an interview with the Financial Times back in March. “Today, we can’t do that on mobile devices but we want to build towards a world that we think will be coming where those devices are opened up.”